Posts Tagged ‘Eyrignac’

After a lot of research and compromise. Having visited Villandry at the start of our vacation, I was limited to one other garden visit! To my fortune we struck upon The Gardens at Eyrignac, just NE of Sarlat.

On the face of it not that far from where we were staying at a lovely house in Bergerac. So yesterday Sarah(my wife) and I set off for the day, leaving our boys to look after the ranch and enjoy the poolside inactivity.

Our journey to Eyrignac took us along the banks of the Dordogne, through the pretty village of Lalinde, past Tremolat, the hilltop village of St Cyprien, and onto the wonders of the cliff face settlement of Beynac, before heading north toward Sarlat.

Sarlat is a beautiful town which is very much at the centre of the holiday trade in the Dordogne, there’s money here! You can see it in the shops, the profusion of smart restaurants, the freshly painted facades, and the car parking spaces – full of Audi’s, BMW’s and the odd Maserati ( anybody willing to donate to me a matt black Gran Turisimo S and I’ll be your friend for life )!

From Sarlat we took the D704, then the D60 towards Salignac- Eyvigues. The turning to Eyrignac is on your right just before you get to Salignac.

Eyrignac is one of France’s most beautiful private gardens, and contains some fine topairy. It is owned by the Sermadris family, who have nurtured the house and gardens over some 22 generations.

A team of six gardeners maintain close to 10 acres of gardens. Key to the gardens success and unification is the strict rule that limits the number of main species in the gardens, to 10 varieties. The topiary features hornbeam, yew, Mediterranean cypress, apple trees, box, and mulberry trees.

One of the most amazing vistas is the avenue of shaped hornbeam and cylindrical yew topiary that directs you down a corridor towards the house.

The hornbeams provide a nice contrast to the dark and dense structure of the yew columns, a lighter green during the summer, and brown leaf during the winter. They look like beech, but the leaves are smaller, and so give a denser hedge.

Behind the hornbeam alley are two other interesting features. The first is the swimming pool. You’d feel like a greek goddess stepping into this deep blue pool.

With it’s Perigord style building alongside.

The second is the wide avenue that runs behind the pool and pavilion. It features some topiary of a grand scale, juxtaposed with large conifers (potentially a hangover from the garden’s previous English Parkland era) .

At one end of this avenue is a hornbeam rotunda. This has carefully cut windows framing beautiful vistas of the surrounding countryside.

At the opposite end of the avenue is the last surviving reminder of the English romantic period which influenced the gardens in the 19th century. The Neogothic English Arches.

With the dappled sandy surfaces of the courtyard entrance beyond..

These gardens are just idyllic! The Sermadris family have had a vision and they have just stuck with it.

Our travels took us to the Cuttings Garden, the Potager Garden, The Topiary Farmyard, The Meadow and finally the White Garden.

The Potager Garden was contained within a fenced and neatly pathed area…

The Topiary Farmyard is where the latest shapes are formed to replenish the gardens stock.

In contrast to the formality of the gardens the Meadow Area is a breath of fresh air!

Finally the White Garden

This recent feature combines geometric shapes of fine topiary, with water features and white perennial planting.

So what more can one say? This is a superb garden and one we shall re-visit.

The Shop? I managed to find the summer hat I’d been looking for ages, plus a very nice book about Eyrignac.

The only let down was the restaurant, after a long drive we were looking for a nice watering hole, alas only a posh ice cream to greet us. This could be something Eyrignac might address.

Otherwise it was a fantastic experience.

For further information contact Manoir d’Eyrignac direct at www.eyrignac.com or Tim Sykes of Gardenproud at 07725 173820, or at info@reallygardenproud.com